


cooking is exactly like soccer

by dandelionbeach



Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: Drama, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Season/Series 03, basically they have a cook off, this was gayer than intended
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:13:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24481828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dandelionbeach/pseuds/dandelionbeach
Summary: "Hm… each of us making a dinner…" Endou had his thinking face on. "We should all compete for who can make the tastiest." Ever since Coach Kudou had called him out on it, Endou had been doing the most to team bond. And this could be the perfect exercise."Like in a soccer bracket?" Hijikata spoke up."Yes! Exactly like in soccer," Endou answered cheerily. It would not, in fact, be exactly like in soccer.
Relationships: Endou Mamoru/Kazemaru Ichirouta, Fubuki Shirou/Someoka Ryuugo, minor kdfd
Comments: 8
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inazuma fanfiction in 2020. we truly are living a historic event.
> 
> I just wanted some fun times on soccer island. long live episode 100. 
> 
> Thank u to my beta who is also my sister this would never have happened without her. god bless.

After a hard day's practice preparing for the next international game, Inazuma Japan was enjoying a nice team dinner in the mess hall of their temporary home. Everyone was tired and they all smelled bad but practice had been good and spirits were high.

Mostly.

Kabeyama sighed and stacked his plate on top of the four emptied ones beside him. There was still some pasta left on it. He put his head down.

"Kabeyama-kun? Is everything alright?" Aki asked, the first to notice. "Its not like you to stop after only five servings." She leaned over him in a concerned hover. Conversations around the room slowed to a stop.

"Well, it's just…" Kabeyama looked uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on him. "I'm tired of the pasta. That's all."

"Tired of the pasta? But you told me you loved it!" Aki exclaimed, looking far more conflicted over this than she really should. 

"Eh, it is the only thing we've eaten for the past week." Tsunami pointed out, waving his fork for emphasis. One of the noodles flew off. "I'm with him on this. Can't you make something else?" 

"Uh, guys I don't think-" Kazemaru started, glancing at Endou, trying to do damage control as the girls processed this request.

"FINALLY I was waiting for someone to say something," Fudou cut him off. If one paid attention, they might see Sakuma rolling his eye. But why would anyone look at Sakuma. So it went unnoticed.

"Do you really all feel this way?" Otonashi asked, dismayed. Nobody spoke. "Kidou? Does everyone really not like it?" She desperately addressed her brother, looking for familiar sympathy in this confusing and frightening world. 

Kidou shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Haruna, your cooking is good but I think they'd all like a little variety." Next to him, Gouenji nodded stonefacedly. 

"Why don't you try feeding a bunch of soccer freaks every day?" Aki fumed. 

"I-I'm sure we could learn something else...I'll find some online recipes." Fuyuka promised timidly.

"No," Aki stood her ground. "If they don't appreciate our efforts, they don't get more effort!"

Otonashi suddenly brightened. "Oh, I know! Why don't all of you each make a dinner? That way we all get what we want."

"Hm… each of us making a dinner…" Endou had his thinking face on. "We should all compete for who can make the tastiest." Ever since Coach Kudou had called him out on it, Endou had been doing the most to team bond. And this could be the perfect exercise. 

"Like in a soccer bracket?" Hijikata spoke up.

"Yes! Exactly like in soccer," Endou answered cheerily. It would not, in fact, be exactly like in soccer.

"I don't know...wouldn't it be really long to do this with sixteen people?" Kazemaru said doubtfully. 

"We could team up," Hiroto pitched in, "if we went in pairs there would only be eight competitors."

Voices instantly began clamoring over each other. The room exploded into a chaotic din.

"I want to be with Gouenji-san!" Toramaru piped up.

"I'll go with Kidou," Sakuma said. Everybody ignored him.

"I call Tobitaka!" Tsunami yelled. "I know he can secretly cook!"

"What? Then _I_ wanna be his partner!" Kogure called out contrarily.

"Someoka-kun, would you like to partner up with me?" Fubuki asked.

"UHHHH Someoka didn't _you_ want to partner with Gouenji?" Kazemaru interjected, trying to keep room for jesus. 

Oh no. Endou's very cool very fun team bonding activity was quickly turning into a team breaking activity. They couldn't be arguing about this when everyone was friends with everyone else! They needed to get along! 

"Guys, don't fight," he tried. But it was sure to be a losing battle. He needed a solution. 

"Um, Endou-san," Tachimukai tentatively got his attention. "What if we did a lottery? Then it can't be unfair." 

Perfect. "Everyone!" Endou yelled, throwing his arms wide in emphasis, "Stop fighting! We're going to do a lottery." The noise simmered down. "Aki, could you bring me some paper?"

"Oh, you don't have to do it, Captain, I can write the names," Fubuki offered, "You haven't finished your dinner yet, anyway."

" _And_ we want it to be legible," Kogure snickered, and then promptly dove under the table to avoid Otonashi's glare. 

* * *

Dinner was over, and the lottery was ready. Fubuki had printed everyone's names in a nice script and threw them all into a box.

Before anybody could ask how to go about doing the lottery, Someoka moved to the front of the crowd and spoke up. 

"Fubuki should get to pick first, since he was the one who made them." Nobody found any reason to argue with that, so Fubuki stepped back up to the box to draw his lot. He put both of his hands in, and then tugged at the cuff of one jacket sleeve. He paused, and messed with it again. The sound of crinkling paper rang through the tense, anticipatory silence of the room. Fubuki pulled out a slip.

"Wow, I got Someoka-kun! What a crazy plot twist this is. Nobody saw _that_ coming." He smiled, and showed the crowd the wrinkled paper with Someoka's name on it. Several people leaned out from behind Someoka to confirm that this was the truth. 

Fubuki skipped back towards the crowd and high fived his new partner. Mission success. 

"Let's just get this over with," Tobitaka grumbled, and made his way up. The cooking was something he might actually enjoy, but this? Excruciating. He snatched a slip of paper and snapped it open with annoyance. His casual posture stiffened. 

"Who'd you get, Tobitaka-san?" Toramaru prompted, impatient. 

Wordlessly, Tobitaka held up the paper. It had his own name on it.

"We should've figured something like this would happen," Kazemaru commented. "Fubuki's name is still in there, too."

"Maybe the managers can draw two at a time," Kidou suggested. "That way nobody can pick their own names, and everyone who's already paired up won't be an issue. But Tobitaka might as well just draw again."

So he did.

"Oh," Tobitaka said, "I got you, Kidou."

The drop in Kidou's mood could've influenced the temperature. He did not like Tobitaka. He did not respect Tobitaka. He did not want to work with Tobitaka. God knows how much shit he and Gouenji had talked about his hair and inability to play soccer despite being on an international team. 

"Okay. I look forward to it," he ground out. 

Fuyuka took Tobitaka's place at the lottery and pulled the next two names.

"Hijikata...and...Sakuma," she announced.

"Alright! Let's win this thing! It's gonna be great, don't you think?" Hijikata turned to his partner excitedly. Sakuma flicked his hair.

"Whatever." 

"Next is Kabeyama…and Toramaru. And then … Mamoru-kun and…"

The room swelled with tension once more as several people held their breath, desperately hoping to be partners with Endou. It didn't matter that he had probably never cooked a day in his life. 

"...Hiroto."

Hiroto could not believe his ears. How could he have been so lucky? Perhaps the very reason he had suggested partnerships was the off chance that this exact situation would happen. But we can never know. To his credit, Hiroto was able to keep his expression in a polite smile even as his face turned as red as his hair. Like a little tomato.

"Okay! Let's do it, Hiroto! We won't lose!" Endou cheered. 

"Endou-kun…" Hiroto's smile widened and, after a second of blatant staring, he nodded decisively. 

"Next is … Kogure and Gouenji...and then… Kazemaru and Tsunami…and Fudou and Tachimukai."

Everyone met their partners with different levels of enthusiasm. 

"Listen up," Otonashi began, "We've decided on some rules for the contest. We are going to decide the dish of the day, and both partners must help make it within a time limit. Then we will try them all, and whoever does the worst job is disqualified. Got it? We start tomorrow."

There was a resounding cheer, and Inazuma Japan headed to bed. 

* * *

The next day, the schedule shifted so that practice both started and ended earlier, in order to make room for the competition without losing their precious practice time.

Natsumi came to the field late that afternoon and was surprised to find it empty. The Raimon she knew would be out on the field well after Coach Kudou had ended official practice. And when she hurried to their lodgings in search of an explanation, what she found did nothing to lessen her confusion.

"A cooking contest?" On second thought, she might actually enjoy this. "I love to cook! Can I compete? My riceballs will totally be the best!"

"B-but there's an uneven amount of people," Endou protested. "Everyone's already teamed up."

"Well then, I'll just have to join a group!" Natsumi stated cheerfully. 

Everyone glanced between each other in a panic. Nobody wanted to eat Natsumi's food, much less cook with her. But offending her would bring much more pain than those two things combined. Kidou subtly nudged Endou, who took the hint and tried again.

"UM- really, we're doing this to appreciate the managers more, so, you don't have to. We already really appreciate everything you do for us, Natsumi."

"Aww," Natsumi looked genuinely touched. "That's nice of you to say, but-"

"NO REALLY you help with cooking so much, you made us dinner every day when we were fighting Aleia, we can't make you do it more." Endou was trying so so hard.

"Okay...if that's how you guys feel, then I have to respect it," Natsumi relented. "But if I can't cook then I want to watch the rest of you make riceballs." She turned and went to find the rest of the managers.

Natumi's retreating footsteps slowly faded into silence. Endou turned around to face the rest of his team, who were still frozen in place, and nodded once. He had done it. They were safe now.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." Kabeyama gasped, sinking to the ground in relief as the team let out a collective breath. 

"That was close," Kidou agreed, "We need to be more careful." 

A few minutes later, the managers wheeled in a platter full of ingredients, "As Natsumi requested, the first challenge will be riceballs! You will have one hour." 

The cafeteria tables had been converted into eight miniature kitchen stations. They were arranged around the room in a square, facing inwards. The managers set each team up, and the whistle blew to commence the competition.

***

"Alright," Someoka observed the set-up. "Where should we start?"

"There's no need to rush, Someoka-kun," Fubuki said, hopping onto one of the two stools at their station. 

"Yeah, but I want to make sure we get it perfect." But he didn't move to start.

"We'll do that in a bit." Fubuki dragged the other stool closer to himself. "An hour is a lot of time just to make riceballs. So, what were you telling me about earlier?"

"Oh, yeah…" Someoka took a seat on the other stool and launched into conversation, the cooking momentarily forgotten. The only thing he was focused on now was Fubuki's peaceful smile. 

***

"Alright! Defender squad!" Tsunami grinned at Kazemaru as they set up to start. "We're the only two with the same position, so our teamwork should be the best!" 

"Sure," Kazemaru smiled at him briefly, then turned his focus back to the rice.

An awkward silence settled. Despite having worked in the same part of the field for so long, they had little to talk about.

"So….uh…." Tsunami cast about for a discussion topic. He didn't function well in silence. "How are you and Endou?" Kazemaru put the utensil he had been using down a little too forcefully.

"We broke up again." He said shortly, and very deliberately did not look at Tsunami.

"Oh. I'm sorry?" His attempt to make the situation lighter had only made it gloomier. He'd fucked up. Anxiously, he looked to the side of the room and tried to catch Tachimukai's eye in a plea for help, but Tachimukai was busy dashing all over his station as Fudou watched disinterestedly. What was Tsunami supposed to do?

***

The first thing Tachimukai did at their station was wash his hands. This was going to be so fun and exciting! Endou-san's ideas were always enjoyable. He was such a good captain. 

"Isn't this so neat, Fudou-san?" Tachimukai turned to his partner as he dried his hands. This would also be a nice opportunity to become better friends with teammates he didn't often interact with. The two of them had sat together on the bench for matches before, but that sort of conversation was limited. Fudou could be an intimidating guy, but that didn't mean Tachimukai shouldn't try to be his friend. "Making food with everyone sure is fun!"

Fudou opened his mouth.

"You're so fucking stupid."

Tachimuaki wilted. He didn't know Fudou-san thought about him like that. It was disheartening, to say the least. He curled into himself, pulling his hands up to his chest to fidget, and looked down. 

"Sorry," he murmured, and set about their task as quickly and quietly as he could. Maybe if he just didn't say anything, it would all be okay.

***

Someoka twisted around in his seat to peer at the clock. "Don't you think we should get started?" He asked Fubuki. 

"Ah, don't worry, we have tons of time," Fubuki reassured him. "It's only been five minutes. Relax." It had actually been fifteen minutes, but Someoka didn't need to know that. "So where was I? Oh-"

***

Was it hot in the cafeteria or was Kogure just fear-sweating? He trembled all over like a chihuahua. Gouenji could punt him across the room at any moment. The silent treatment he was giving Kogure did not help to alleviate these fears. If they kept working together, Kogure would eventually give into his natural instinct and pull a fast one on Gouenji, who would then give into _his_ natural instinct of kicking the shit out of his problems. The only solution was to make sure they didn't even make it past the first round.

***

...Goddamnit. 

Fudou had not moved for the past three minutes. He kept his gaze firmly on the wall. Fight and flight were inappropriate for this situation, so he was left with one option: freeze.

He really hadn't meant to say that to Tachimukai. Why would he be mean to the underclassman that annoyed him the least? Fudou had been trying to say something like 'you're kidding me, this is so fucking stupid' but the wires got crossed somewhere in there. Now what? It's not like he could...apologize and explain the situation...no. Obviously not. Fuck.

***

Since Tobitaka could apparently handle himself in the kitchen, Kidou spared a moment of careful observation to look up at the clock. There wasn't much time left, but he wasn't worried about their progress. Kidou was confident that he and Tobitaka would not lose, even though the competition was still a mystery. He peered around the room curiously to monitor the other teams' progress. Everyone seemed to be in the final stages, or already finished. Hiroto and Endou were arranging their rice. Toramaru and Kabeyama were chatting amiably as they cleaned up. Kidou's gaze swept across the room and landed on Someoka and Fubuki.

Oh no.

Not even the smallest jesus could have fit between them. They were sitting far _far_ too close. And their station looked the way the managers had set everyone's up. But there was nothing Kidou could do now. It was already too late.

***

"TIME'S UP!" Aki yelled over the noise. "Please present your riceballs!"

Each team had a serving dish at the front of their station so the managers had easy access when they came around. Everyone did passably enough, though there were some errors. Hijikata had portioned his and Sakuma's rice into a mountain of bite-sized snacks. Somehow, Gouenji and Kogure had managed to burn their riceballs into blackened crisps. And Someoka and Fubuki had absolutely nothing on their serving dish.

"Is it over already?" Fubuki blinked, the picture of innocence. "Sorry, I must've lost track of time." Someoka was much more upset about it.

"Since Someoka and Fubuki did not make anything within the hour, they are disqualified. The rest of you move on to tomorrow's round!" Natsumi declared.

The rest of the room exploded into cheers. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to clarify that the --- means a scene/time change, and *** is a pov change.
> 
> Hope you like chapter 2!!

Practice had ended far too early for Kogure the next day. It must have been a minor miracle that kept him and Gouenji in the running. Curse those gayboys for one upping him. He was sure that Gouenji would be furious with him. He swung his legs nervously as they sat at their station, waiting for the managers to show up. He'd just have to think up a new sabotage. A surefire, discreet way to eliminate them without drawing Gouenji's ire … 

Aki led the procession into the cafeteria, followed by the other three girls, Megane with his camera already out, and then a grinning Fubuki with his arm hooked through Someoka's, who was evidently being dragged along. 

"Today's challenge will be chicken parmesan!" Aki announced. "The rules are the same, except now you can choose your ingredients from the pantry." As she and the rest of the managers helped the boys set up, Otonashi turned to her and asked:

"How did you come up with chicken parmesan, Kino-chan? That's something we've never even made before."

"Do you remember the other day when I went to meet Ichinose?" Aki prompted, and Otonashi nodded in return. "We went to one of the restaurants in the America town and I tried it. It's really good."

"That's nice!" Otonashi said, "How are he and Domon, by the way?"

"Huh?" That threw Aki off a bit, "how did you know Domon was there?"

"He's always there."

Their conversation was cut off by Natsumi's whistle. The second round had started.

***

"So…" Tsunami began as he and Kazemaru prepared themselves. "If you want to fix things with Endou, I can help. Y'know, wingman or something." Kazemaru buries his face in his hands.

"No, it's not gonna happen," he sulked, muffled, "We are never getting back together. Like. Ever."

Tsunami frowned, and awkwardly patted him on the back. 

"I'm sure it's not that bad. Hey, listen-"

"Yes it is."

"-I'm gonna go get our ingredients. You take a minute, ok?" And with that he escaped.

As Tsunami walked to the pantry, he realized that he didn't know how to make chicken parmesan. He'd never even cooked chicken, just fish. Well, they called tuna "the chicken of the sea" didn't they? So it was close enough. Definitely.

***

Hiroto was supposed to be slicing the parmesan. He had the cutting board out and a knife at the ready. He'd helped out in the kitchen a few times at Sun Garden, so cooking wasn't really an issue for him. 

What was an issue was distractions. Namely, Endou. Hiroto was hyper aware of how close they were in their small station, and Endou moved around so much that it felt as if they were constantly brushing against each other. Hiroto would chop up a couple slices, and then trail off when Endou's movements caught his eye again. It was taking far too long to do this simple task. He shook his head to focus and looked down at the cutting board. 

"Hey, how's the cheese coming?" Endou asked. There goes his concentration again. Hiroto looked up to meet Endou's gaze and held it for a few moments.

"Endou-kun...I-" the knife slipped. A small cut bloomed on his finger and Hiroto dropped the knife. Ow.

"Hiroto! Are you okay?" Endou pressed in close in a panic, all of his attention on Hiroto. Nevermind the pain, this was totally worth it. 

"I'm alright, it's just a small scratch," he promised.

"Say something if it hurts or bleeds too much, alright?" Endou pressed, and stayed in Hiroto's personal bubble for an extra second before going back to his own task.

Hiroto felt lightheaded. Must be blood loss.

***

This was going suspiciously well. Gouenji had brought over their ingredients and began preparing the food without a word. Kogure dug his hands into his pockets in search of something, anything, to help him lose. Hot sauce? It was a classic, and would surely ruin the dish, but that tactic was too obvious and easily traceable. 

Gouenji looked down at him and he quickly tried to school his face into innocence, and not a weird combination of panic and plotting.

"Don't worry," Gouenji told him, "We'll do better this time."

...Huh. That was weird. Since when was he nice? Was it a mistake to assume the worst?

The finishing blow came in the form of Gouenji's small, gentle smile. 

"Okay," Kogure replied, confused but placated. Plot abandoned, he got to work helping out his new ally.

***

"Can you do the eggs?" Hijikata asked offhandedly, distracted by his own task.

"Uh, sure, I guess," Sakuma picked an egg out of the carton. God, he'd much rather be working with Kidou than Hijikata. Or anyone, really. He didn't know these people, and had no intention of getting to know them. They annoyed him. Sakuma carefully brought the egg down on the edge of the bowl, and then smacked it harder in order to crack it. He took each end of the shell in his hands and pulled them apart.

The yolk fell smoothly, dropping downwards in a perfect yellow orb like the setting sun. And missed the bowl completely. Egg splattered all over the floor. He'd opened it too far away from the bowl, but he could have sworn it was right over it. Sakuma cursed under his breath and reached for another egg.

***

This day was ruined. Just like Kazemaru and Endou's relationship. Kazemaru was too down about his recent breakup to try to corral Tsunami into cooking anything that resembled chicken parmesan. They had been doing so well. It had been, what? Three months since their last breakup? Where did it all go wrong? How did they get so angry at each other? Kazemaru sorted through his memories of the past week. 

Was it one of the foreigners? Maybe Endou's anger at Edgar had projected onto Kazemaru since they looked so similar. Because Edgar was an ugly style-stealing British poser. Or no- was it something Kazemaru did? He told Endou to stop playing with the tire and go to sleep, that could have been it...Endou always spent too much time with those tires. It's not like Kazemaru was being unreasonable or, god forbid, jealous. Surely Kazemaru's wild and unpredictable mood swings were completely unrelated to this problem. 

He let out a big sigh and vacantly watched Tsunami flip over a slice of tuna on the griddle.

***

The chicken parm was coming along great. Tobitaka had just seasoned the chicken to his satisfaction when Kidou spoke up.

"Where are the breadcrumbs?" He asked, breaking their usual silence. Kidou looked around with exaggerated motion because his goggles eliminated all peripheral vision. 

"Must have forgot it," Tobitaka said, as he ascertained that there were no breadcrumbs at their station with a quick glance.

Kidou sighed. "Could you go get them, then?"

Tobitaka nodded and put his chicken down. He strode towards the pantry and was momentarily distracted by the sight of Sakuma, who was squinting as he poured vegetable oil onto the counter next to the bowl. His tongue stuck out. Hijikata was blissfully unaware. Tobitaka looked away as he approached their station so it didn't look like he was staring, and took a wide step forward to speed past them.

He slipped.

There was egg on the floor in front of Sakuma and Hijikata's station, and Tobitaka had stepped directly into it. He scrambled to try to stay upright, and grabbed onto the counter next to him for support. But the counter had just had vegetable oil poured all over it, so he slipped off of that, too. He landed on the floor with a _thump_ in a pile of long limbs, one foot stuck up in the air. 

After a dizzying moment spent on the floor, Tobitaka struggled upright, pulled out his comb, and fixed his hair.

***

All eyes in the room had been drawn to Tobitaka as he fell. But Fudou only spared him a glance before he turned his attention to Kidou. Just to see how he was getting along with his partner, of course. Kidou was unreadable as usual. But then he turned and looked right back at Fudou. Fudou held his breath and stared into Kidou's dark goggles. Only a second passed before Kidou broke away again, and continued preparing his chicken parm like nothing happened. What was that?

***

The mess that caused Tobitaka's demise was dealt with by Aki and Fuyuka. While they were busy, Otonashi wandered around to check on some teams.

"Are you enjoying yourselves?" She asked Toramaru and Kabeyama. 

"Yes!" Toramaru beamed. He loved to cook and also show off. This was perfect for him. "I'm going to win!"

"Mhm!" Kabeyama hummed his agreement as he sampled some mozzarella. Then, after exchanging a quick glance with Toramaru, he began to chop some carrots. Otonashi didn't know that carrots were involved in chicken parm. Nobody else was doing it. But Toramaru was trustworthy, so she decided not to do anything, and moved on with a smile.

***

The whistle sounded again. "Time!" Natsumi shouted, letting it fall from her mouth. Frantic shuffling followed as everyone prepared to show the managers their creations.

The end results were not nearly as good as they had been for the first competition. The only two groups who had made chicken parm Aki could approve of were Tobitaka and Kidou and Toramaru and Kabeyama. Others, like Endou and Hiroto, had managed to use the correct ingredients, but the presentation was somewhat lackluster.

"Is there any chicken under here?" Otonashi asked, doubtfully prodding at what appeared to be a straight hunk of cheese. The sauce was minimal. Fuyuka had taken a bite and found some meat underneath after all, but her face let show that solving the mystery had not been worth it. Endou and Hiroto waited anxiously. They didn't want to be mean and hope someone else had messed up worse than they did, but that looked to be the only option.

That secret, selfish wish was granted a moment later.

"What the hell is that?" Natsumi made an expression of disgust as she showed the plate to Aki. "This isn't chicken parmesan, right?"

Aki looked even more upset. "No! I don't know what that is!"

The plate in question held chunks of cooked tuna and slices of swiss cheese, drowned in a sauce that was definitely not tomato-based. 

"Who's responsible for this?"

Tsunami raised his hand. Kazemaru miserably put his up as well. 

"Tsunami-kun! Kazemaru-kun! How did this happen?"

Tsunami shrugged. "I didn't know how to make chicken parm and Kazemaru let me do it."

"I did let him do it," Kazemaru confirmed, regretting it now. He looked like a fool in front of Endou. This could not get worse.

"Chicken parmesan is so simple!" Aki exclaimed, distraught, "it should be impossible to mess it up this badly."

"You're the only one who's ever had it before," Tsunami pointed out, "It's just stupid American food. We are Japanese."

Aki could only shake her head. 

"That may be true, but you still broke the rules of the competition by not making the correct dish, so you two will not be moving on to the next round," Natsumi decided. It wasn't a hard call to make. 

All around the room, competitors discreetly let out the breath they had been holding. This round had been stressful for several reasons, but they were past it now.

* * *

The cafeteria was dark and empty, a stark contrast from the bustling center of life and light it had been mere hours ago. Now it was in a sleepy, quiet state, with the silence only broken by the creaking of old wood. Moonlight streamed in from the windows to soften the shadows and cast a dreamlike quality to the whole building. The only other light source was Kazemaru's phone screen as he flipped it open. He walked carefully and quietly to the cafeteria with that light to guide him, afraid to wake anyone up. Just a minute ago, Tsunami had texted him to come to the cafeteria because "its important". Really, they shouldn't be up and about this late. If Coach Kudou caught them, they were done for.

Kazemaru turned on one section of low lights and sat down to wait. A door creaked open somewhere in the house. Tsunami must be on the way. 

***

His bedroom door creaked open. A second passed. The coast was clear. Hiroto tiptoed out of his room and set off down the hallway. He knew it was a bad idea, breaking curfew, but he really needed to see Endou. Their near-failure today was bothering him so much he couldn't sleep. Talking strategy would reassure him. It could be difficult to get there, as Endou's room was on the other side of the building due to the kids being organized by number, but Hiroto hadn't climbed the ranks to the top of Aliea for nothing. He could do this easily. 

There was a noise behind him.

Hiroto whirled around, eyes wide. There, in the hallway, stood a short figure nearly as pale as himself, in front of the door with a seventeen marked on it. Silver hair flashed in the moonlight.

"Fubuki?"

***

Emerging from the darkness into the low light like he would emerge from the ocean, Tsunami slid onto the bench opposite of Kazemaru. 

"Sorry, I heard footsteps and I didn't want Kudou to catch me," he said quietly. 

"What's this about?" Kazemaru whispered, annoyed. 

"Uh, you and Endou. Duh." At this, Kazemaru groaned and put his head down. Waves of blue hair, loose from the usual ponytail, slid out of place and spilled onto the table. His face was completely covered.

"I already told you-"

"No no no, I think we can come up with a plan!" Tsunami interrupted him, "from what Kurimatsu told me, you guys are always on and off anyway, so-"

"Wait," Kazemaru picked his head up off the table and squinted at Tsunami. "From what _Kuritmatsu_ told you? Why are you gossiping with first years?"

"They just tell me stuff," Tsunami shrugged. "I can't control them. But this isn't about that. I think you should take Endou to watch the sunset. That's pretty romantic."

"I really wish that the underclassmen would say something useful if they're going to gossip about my relationships," Kazemaru sighed. "We do that all the time, it won't change anything."

"Then help me think of something else!"

Kazemaru put his head back down.

***

In the same motion Hiroto had just made, Fubuki whipped around to look at him.

"Oh," he relaxed upon seeing Hiroto's face, "it's just you. Hi, Hiroto-kun." He turned back to the door and pulled a bobby pin from his hair. 

"What are you doing?" Hiroto's quest was forgotten as he watched Fubuki slide the end of the pin into the doorknob.

"Picking Someoka-kun's lock," he answered, softly and matter of fact.

"He's not going to let you in? Why'd he lock the door if you were coming?" Hiroto was baffled.

"It's never stopped me before," Fubuki replied easily. A few clicks sounded. His grey eyes flicked over to Hiroto. "You won't tell anyone about this, right? Hiroto-kun?"

Going against authority was not something he was used to. Hiroto stuttered something, and Fubuki cut him off.

"I know where you're going."

"For the competition," Hiroto clarified, and Fubuki smiled at him. 

"I know." While his concentration was divided, the bobby pin fell out of the doorknob and hit the floor with a faint metallic noise.

***

"No."

"Why don't you come up with something if all my ideas are so bad?" Tsunami huffed. "Or just talk it out."

"I take back what I said about the pick up line. _That's_ your worst suggestion ever." Kazemaru grumbled. 

"So you're going to use it?" Tsunami was suddenly eager.

"What? I'm not going to tell Endou I'm tired from running through his head all day. They're both bad ideas."

There was a metallic ping from elsewhere in the house. Both boys stilled.

"Did you hear that?" Kazemaru asked in a low voice, exasperation forgotten.

"Yeah…" Tsunami agreed slowly. "It's probably just someone else up but…"

"We should check. Just in case." They nodded at each other, and crept towards the hallway where the sound had originated. 

***

Footsteps. Fubuki and Hiroto made eye contact. 

"You have to cover for me," Fubuki urged, scooping his pin from the ground and jamming it back into the lock. 

"What? I can't do that," Hiroto protested nervously.

"All I need is a minute," Fubuki pleaded. 

"Coach Kudou will be angry if-"

"Do it or I'll tell Hitomiko that you like Endou!"

That was enough motivation for Hiroto. If his older sister knew, so would the rest of Sun Garden, and he'd never hear the end of it. Nagumo and Suzuno would ruin his life worse than Coach Kudou ever could. Hiroto turned and fled down the hallway towards the approaching footsteps. 

***

Cautiously, Tsunami and Kazemaru crept through the house with only the light of Kazemaru's flip phone to guide them. Quick footsteps echoed through the wooden halls and they both tensed up further. They had come up to the next turn. After exchanging nervous eye contact, the defenders peered around the corner and nearly smacked into something. Or rather, someone. Tsunami thought they had encountered a ghost and nearly screeched until he realized it was just Hiroto. All three of them stared for a moment, surprised but relieved by the absence of authority figures. 

"Hiroto. What are you doing up?" Kazemaru asked. 

"Just- going to get some water." He lied.

"The cafeteria's back there, though." Tsunami pointed out. 

It wasn't like Hiroto to be a bad actor, but this situation had him nervous. While he racked his brain to work around this, Kazemaru's eyes narrowed. 

"Are you going to someone's room?" He asked in a suspicious hiss.

"No? Just-"

"Who's room are you going to?" 

Tsunami was watching this back and forth and for once in his life decided to keep his mouth shut. An excellent choice. 

"Who's room are you going to?" Kazemaru pressed, but his tone sounded like he already knew the answer. 

Hiroto glanced behind himself before he answered, looking for Fubuki, but he was too far away to tell. The hallway only contained shadow. Even this would be better than Fubuki's threat, so it seemed that honesty was the only answer. Kazemaru beat him to it.

"You're going to Endou's room, aren't you?" 

When Hiroto could not reply, Kazemaru clenched his fists in anger. "Figures," he muttered, half to himself, bristling, "of _course_ you and him would-"

"Hey," Tsunami came to the abrupt realization that if he didn't do something right this second, all hell would break loose and the three of them would land themselves in big trouble. He put a hand on Kazemaru's shoulder as if to hold him back. "Let's just go to bed, yeah? We'll figure this out in the morning."

It took a moment for Kazemaru to respond. He had locked furious eyes with Hiroto, who was carefully blank. Painstakingly slow, he allowed Tsunami to lead him down the hall towards their respective rooms. Tsunami whispered a goodnight to Hiroto, who nodded faintly back as Kazemaru glared daggers into him. 

Hiroto watched them retreat into the dark and then stumbled back towards his own room. The plan to meet up with Endou was poorly thought out, and he could never do it now. Kazemaru would probably be up all night pressed against the door to make sure nobody showed up to see his neighbor. Numbers on doors, barely visible as they were, tracked Hiroto's progress down the hall. He reached the room next to his own and found no trace of Fubuki, and no sign of life from within room seventeen. Door number eighteen creaked softly shut, and Hiroto laid down to sleep. Tomorrow, he would sort it all out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk about you guys but I wasn't emotionally mature as a 13-15 yr old


	3. Chapter 3

Sunshine had not yet graced Japan's national team by the time they were awake. An alarm clock woke Tachimukai, and he dressed for practice in the near darkness of early morning before making his way to the cafeteria for breakfast. Not everyone was there yet, and some of those who were still wore their sleeping clothes. Tachimukai maneuvered around his tired, slow moving team mates and got himself a bowl of cereal. He sat down and carefully checked the bowl, the spoon, the tray, and his cup of orange juice. Ever since he had found a bug in his breakfast the first day here, he always checked his meals for Kogure's tricks. But there was nothing today. 

He had just settled down and dropped his guard to eat when Fudou wandered over, seemingly aimless. Casually, he sat down next to Tachimukai and started on his own breakfast. Last time Tachimukai had tried to strike up a conversation with the game maker it hadn't gone well, but he wasn't one to give up the first time.

"Good morning, Fudou-san," he tried. 

"Morning," Fudou hummed back, and didn't say anything else. But a little bit of tension had bleed out of the atmosphere, and both boys relaxed. Tachimukai smiled around his spoon.

***

Breakfast had been drowsily pleasant, but practice was another story. Their teamwork hadn't suffered, but the mood was wrong. Endou, bless his heart, hadn't realized. He kept calling out encouragement and smiled brighter than the sun. Others, however, had taken notice.

"Some of the team isn't playing their best," Kidou observed to Gouenji as they took a quick water break. 

"Yeah," Gouenji agreed. "They're distracted."

"But by what?" Kidou mused. There was nothing happening except for the FFI, as far as he was concerned. Gouenji, who was similarly single minded, only shrugged.

They watched the rest of the team from a slight distance. It wasn't unusual for these two to separate themselves from the group on occasion for some quality bestie time. And from their vantage point, both of them clearly saw the following exchange:

Kazemaru, ever the speed demon, reaches the water first. He knows Hiroto is behind him. He picks up both of their water bottles and takes a sip from his own, holding Hiroto's out to him. Hiroto smiles and reaches forward, and opens his mouth as if to thank him, but Kazemaru lets go of the water bottle before Hiroto has an actual grip on it. The water bottle drops to the ground. Kazemaru exclaims an apology, but makes no move to help pick it up. Hiroto laughs it off, grabs his water bottle from the ground, and moves on, but not before holding Kazemaru's gaze for a meaningful moment. 

Gouenji and Kidou sighed in tandem. 

***

The soccer ball flew wide from the goal. Toramaru had been trying out a new shoot, and it didn't always go the way he wanted it to. 

"Don't worry!" Endou called to him, "it's improving!"

Toramaru smiled and had started towards the fence that surrounded their practice field in order to retrieve the ball when it came flying back at him. 

On top of the hill stood two girls, both wearing the Inazuma Japan uniform. Upon seeing them, the team broke out into laughter and shouts.

"Touko! Rika!"

"It's so good to see you!"

"We didn't know you were coming!"

"Of course we'd come support our boys," Rika said, "besides, how are you going to win without your goddesses of victory?"

"Your next match better be awesome now that we're here!" Touko added. 

There was a small break in practice to do some catching up. Touko went around hugging people, and Rika talked a mile a minute.

"Oh! Hey guys, look what we got," Rika snatched Touko's hand and pulled their arms up to show off the bracelets on their wrists. Matching charms flashed in the sunlight - a lightning bolt and half a heart each. 

"Aww, that's so cute," Aki cooed. Rika turned to her as if just realizing that she was there.

"Hey Aki. Saw you hanging out with Ichinose yesterday."

"R-Rika, it's not what you think," Aki protested, panicked at Rika's dangerous expression. That smile held no joy. Only a promise of pain. 

"I won't hesitate, bitch!" Rika yelled, and kicked the forgotten soccer ball straight at her. Aki screeched and ducked, so it flew harmlessly over her and hit Someoka, who was behind her.

"Hey!" He barked out.

Coach Kudou stepped forward.

"Kids," he addressed them with a weariness like the world was on his shoulders, or perhaps like he was the sole chaperone for 20+ middle schoolers. "No fighting or I'll take away the cooking competition."

Annoyed groans and desperate pleas broke out and everyone begged their coach to let them keep going. 

"Wait, what? You guys are having a cooking competition?" Rika questioned, conflict forgotten.

"Can we be taste testers?" Touko asked eagerly. 

"Sure," Endou answered easily, "You guys can join the managers on our judges panel."

"Why do you have the managers judging?" Rika asked rather rudely. "They're biased."

"That's not true," Otonashi argued. 

"Yes it is. I'll be a better judge," Rika bragged. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

"Okay, now that that's settled," Touko said impatiently, "let's play soccer!" 

She kicked the ball to Endou, who caught it with a big smile. It was good to have more of their friends back.

* * *

After yesterday's fiasco, it was decided that foreign food would never again be a required dish.

"Today's challenge is sushi," Fuyuka told them. "Remember: make it within the time limit without help outside of your partner."

"I'll be judging it on looks too," Rika proclaimed, "so it's not enough to just make the right thing."

"Do your best, everyone!" Touko cheered, punching the air in excitement. The managers went about helping everyone set up. 

"Seriously?" Tsunami complained, dropping into the space between Someoka and Kazemaru at the table reserved for non competitors. "I can actually make this and we don't get to compete?"

"I'm not sure I believe you," Kazemaru confessed. 

"I think we should have a re-do," Someoka grumbled. "We got off to a bad start, that's all. Now that everyone understands how it works, it would be more fair. We deserve a second chance, right?" He draped his arm over Fubuki's shoulder, who smiled and nodded.

"You're right, but the others won't agree to it."

A brief silence fell over the four of them as they were distracted by the screech of Natsumi's whistle. The third round had begun.

***

Right off the bat, it was obvious how Fudou and Tachimukai's teamwork had improved. For instance, they were actually talking.

"You know, I used to be a midfielder too," Tachimukai said conversationally, "but I wasn't nearly as good as you, of course."

"I've never played goalkeeper," Fudou replied awkwardly, a bit blindsided by the admiration, "but I'm sure I wouldn't be as good as you, either." 

"Really?" Tachimukai asked, making eye contact with Fudou for the first time in two days. "You think I'm that good?"

"I mean, yeah. I like, respect your ability, or whatever."

At that, Tachimukai grinned ear to ear. He practically glowed from the praise. "Thank you, Fudou-san!" He exclaimed, and kept working with a new vigor. 

Surprisingly, Fudou found himself fond of that smile. Being something like a nasty boy, Fudou was unused to openly complimenting people like that. But it might be worth doing again. 

They fell into an easy rhythm in which they sensed each other's movements well enough to work without pausing. Outside sounds and distractions faded into the background. Not even Kogure's annoying wailing or Kabeyama's boisterous laughter could disturb them. Nothing would draw Fudou's attention from the task at hand.

That is, until he happened to look up and see Kidou, who was  _ staring directly at him. Again.  _

Fudou stopped moving and stared back, making what he assumed to be intense eye contact, but he couldn't see Kidou's eyes. But it was the only explanation. What was going on? He thought that they had made their peace after the whole "Mr. K" incident. His gamemaker mind was whirring with possibilities and probabilities but Kidou simply turned away, unbothered.

"Fudou-san? Is something bothering you?" Tachimukai had noticed his abrupt halt.

"No, it's nothing." He said, and threw one last look in Kidou's direction. He needed to do something about this.

***

Kogure had apparently decided he was done helping. Or at least, it seemed that way to Gouenji. The underclassman was sitting on his hands and gazing at the fish with wide eyes. Gouenji’s tactic of treating Kogure like his junior and not his equal had managed to get them through several days of peace. He was about to ask Kogure if he could start working when Otonashi made her appearance.

“Kogure-kun, why aren’t you helping Gouenji-san? Are you thinking of pulling some immature prank again?” She admonished. Kogure quickly shook his head.

“No! It’s really hard not to do anything, though! Just look at all the slimy, raw, dead fish…” a haze seemed to come over him, “How many people could I gross out with it?”

“No! None of that! If you start, I’ll get the spray bottle!” Otonashi’s new approach to controlling Kogure was the same as many new pet owners’ approaches to dealing with unruly animals. Kogure wailed out a protest and darted behind Gouenji for safety. 

Gouenji had precious little patience to begin with, and it was a nonrenewable resource. Things could not go on like this. He closed his eyes and glared at the inside of his eyelids instead of at the underclassmen. 

“It’s okay. We’ll be fine,” he told Otonashi through gritted teeth. She hesitated, but nodded and moved along. If Kogure caused more trouble, Gouenji was going to snap. No amount of complaining with Kidou could soothe him. Someone was going to have a soccer ball shaped bruise by the end of the week.

***

Third time’s the charm, right? He had to get it this time. Hijikata watched nervously as Sakuma hovered over the serving platter, a piece of sushi in his visibly shaking hands. 

“It’s not really a big deal,” Hijikata started, “I can do that. You already did a lot.”

“No,” Sakuma snapped back, “I’m going to do it. Do you think I can’t do it? You think I’m incompetent, is that it?”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” he tried to deescalate the situation. “I mean that I could help you out a little.”

Sakuma let go of the sushi to drop it neatly onto the plate. It missed, but luckily it only landed on the counter. Hijikata winced. He couldn’t imagine living like that. Trying to function without depth perception would be an absolute nightmare, but Sakuma refused all offers of assistance. Apparently his pride was still intact, having survived spilling egg, oil, water, rice, and sushi all over the floor in the past couple days. 

“I can do this,” Sakuma said, maybe to Hijikata but maybe to himself, brushing his hair out of the way. He picked the dropped piece of sushi up and aimed.

***

Discreetly as possible, Hiroto glanced over to the table of non competitors. Equally as sneaky, Fubuki gave him a wink. It was time.

“Oh, no,” Hiroto said as he knocked the bamboo mat onto the ground ‘by accident’, “Sorry, Endou-kun.” He bent over to retrieve the bamboo mat, taking his sweet time with it. There was a second of silence from behind him.

“Huh? You didn’t get in the way of anything, it’s alright,” Endou replied. Was it working? Best to try again, just to be sure.

Hiroto waited a minute, and then spilled a bowl of rice. He let out a groan of mock frustration and bent down again to pick up a grain of rice. And did it again. One grain at a time. He peeked behind himself subtly, checking for Endou’s reaction, but there didn’t seem to be one. Endou was very, very carefully cutting a roll they had already made, oblivious. How could Hiroto get him to pay attention?

Another look over at Fubuki in a plea for help yielded no results. Fubuki was only paying attention to Someoka. However, Hiroto did see something of importance - Kazemaru, fists clenched, glaring at him so hard it was like he was trying to invent a hissatsu based on the phrase ‘if looks could kill’. At least someone had noticed. 

Speaking of phrases, it had been a while since he talked to Midorikawa. Maybe Hiroto’s best friend could help him out.

***

This was the angriest Kazemaru had been in a long time, the last time being a week ago when he was woken up by Sakuma sneaking into his room to use his hairbrush because Sakuma’s had just broken. How  _ dare  _ Hiroto act like that when he knew Endou was  _ Kazemaru’s.  _ So what if they weren’t technically ‘together’ any more. He couldn’t stand it.

“Are you okay?” Someoka’s voice broke through Kazemaru’s seething, all consuming anger. Hiroto just looked so fucking smug it made him see red. Apparently, Kazemaru’s rapid breathing and clenched fists had caught his friend’s attention. 

“I’m perfectly fine,” he snapped, and felt his eye twitch. Luckily it was the one under all his hair so nobody could tell he was upset. 

“Are you mad at Hiroto, or something?” Tsunami asked from beside him. Before Kazemaru could even deny it, Fubuki spoke up.

“You shouldn’t be. I mean, what did you expect to happen?” Fubuki’s face was passive and peaceful, pleasant even. He was one of Kazemaru’s dear friends. But he was being obnoxious right now, and Kazemaru had no qualms about murder. 

“Fubuki, I swear to God-”

Before he could finish his threat, Natsumi’s whistle cut the air. 

***

The stakes were higher this time. The judging would be lethal, ruthless. Rika was not known to take any prisoners except for Ichinose, but he wasn’t here to shield them now. 

“Too much fish!” She criticized Gouenji and Kogure.

“Well, I like it,” was Touko’s only feedback.

“Bad presentation!” was Rika’s take on Endou and Hiroto’s creation, “why is this cut so unevenly? This piece is too thin!”

“It all tastes the same no matter what it looks like,” Touko shrugged.

“Hmm...pretty good,” Rika had less to say to Tobitaka and Kidou. “But you could do more with the flavoring! I don’t know why I expected more from all of you, but this is just sad.”

Touko ate happily all throughout this tirade. She reached for a piece on Hijikata and Sakuma’s serving tray when Rika grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“What now?” Touko complained, yanking away. “I think they’re good!”

Rika ignored her. “Does that one...have a hair in it?”

Sure enough, there was a long strand laying on one of the small, sort of squashed looking sushi. The room was quiet.

“Oh,” Touko said, “gross.” She withdrew her hand. 

“That’s disgusting!” Rika yelled at Hijikata and Sakuma, “You are a disgrace to the culinary arts! How dare you call yourselves chefs, trying to serve me something like this! Do you want me to choke and die? After this sort of offense, you don’t deserve to ever eat again!”

“Woah, that’s harsh,” Hijikata complained. Sakuma stepped forward, angry.

“How do we know it didn’t come from you?” He picked up the strand. “You were standing over here. This hair is blue.”

“ _ Your _ hair is blue, dumbass!” Rika shot back, “That’s too light to be mine!”

“One strand has significantly less pigment by itself,” Sakuma argued, “it could easily be yours.”

“No, it couldn’t. You’re cut! Go sit at the loser’s table where you belong!” Rika threw out her arm and pointed to where Tsunami, Kazemaru, Someoka, and Fubuki sat. 

“Sakuma and Hijikata are disqualified,” Natsumi confirmed the decision, and they all knew better than to argue with her. If they thought this round was tough, they were even more worried about tomorrow’s challenge. Rika was hard to please. Nobody could afford to make mistakes with a judge like her.

“For the rest of you, we have something new happening tomorrow!” Otonashi informed them happily, “Round four will be about dessert, and you can do whatever you please. So figure out what you want to make tonight, and we’ll get the ingredients tomorrow.”

A dessert of their own choosing? This was going to be interesting.

* * *

There was a short, polite knock on Fudou’s door. Fudou, who was lost in thought, didn’t get up to answer it until the knocks came again. He opened the door to reveal Tachimukai on the other side of it. 

“Hello Fudou-san, I wanted to ask you what you wanted to make for the competition tomorrow since it’s been a couple of hours and the managers want the list soon.” He said quickly, as if it was a rehearsed statement.

Fudou had not been thinking about the competition at all. His brain power had been focused on two things: why Kidou was angry at him, and what he could do to settle things.

“Um,” Fudou blanked on everything he had ever eaten. “...Banana?”

“Okay,” Tachimukai said slowly, “Did you want to do a banana split? Or maybe banana bread?”

“The split is fine,” Fudou said distractedly, already thinking about his Kidou problem again. But Tachimukai continued to stand in the doorway, looking more and more uncomfortable as the seconds passed. 

“Could we make the ingredients list for the managers, then, if you don’t mind?” He asked, and Fudou realized that the conversation wasn’t actually over.

“Sure,” Fudou replied and stepped back. Tachimukai didn’t move. “Well?” He prompted, “are you going to come in?”

“Y-Yes!” Tachimukai agreed hurriedly, and stepped inside room number eight. Fudou kicked the door closed and perched on his desk.

“So. We need banana and…” Fudou trailed off. “Let’s find a recipe and just use their list,” he suggested instead. Tachimukai nodded, and shuffled slightly closer so they could use the laptop. The managers would have their list soon enough.

***

The managers did almost have a whole list. There were only one or two teams who hadn’t come by Aki’s room, where all the girls had congregated, to deliver the information. So for now, they waited and chatted idly.

“It’s so nice to have us girls all back together again,” Otonashi smiled at Touko and Rika, who were sitting on the floor with her. 

“It feels like it’s been ages!” Aki agreed from where she sat on her bed, next to Fuyuka. Natsumi, who was sitting in the desk chair, nodded along.

“You know what would really make this a good reunion?” Rika hinted, and everyone’s attention turned to her. “A sleepover! Like the good old days.”

“That’s an excellent idea, Rika,” Natsumi said, “but we can’t have people who aren’t on Inazuma Japan stay overnight.”

“Not to worry,” Touko reassured the girls as their disappointment swept the room, “Did you forget that Rika and I have a hotel room? You guys can come over to our place.”

“That does sound fun,” Fuyuka admitted shyly, “I’ll convince Dad to let us go.”

“Alright!” Otonashi cheered, happy that her plan was working out. She jumped up. “Everyone go pack an overnight bag!”

“Wait, what about the list?” Aki pointed out worriedly. It wasn’t finished yet. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Rika waved her off, “the idiots who haven’t gotten here yet can just leave a note. Let’s go have some fun!”

***

Hiroto paced circles in his room. He was tempted to go outside and kick the ball around to let off some steam, but he needed an action plan for his Endou situation. In fact, he’d just come back from meeting up with Endou outside the house to talk about what to make. They had decided on donuts, and made their list fairly quickly. They had also held unbroken eye contact for five minutes. 

Hiroto sighed and flipped his phone open. He typed in the familiar numbers, and listened to it ring a couple of times. The line was picked up, and from the other end came a voice he was very glad to hear.

“Hi, Hiroto!” Midorikawa chirped, “How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine,” Hiroto replied, voice soft, “The world is really amazing. I wish you could be here.”

“Me too,” Midorikawa sighed, “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too. How are things at Sun Garden?” Hiroto asked.

“Ugh,” he groaned, “you don’t have to ask.”

Hiroto laughed. “Yeah, I don’t. So, the reason I called you is I need some advice.”

“Oh? What is it?” Midorikawa questioned.

“It’s about Endou.”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

“Did something happen?” Midorikawa asked finally.

“Sort of,” Hiroto tried to explain, “There’s something going on with him and me...”

“What are you - “ Midorikawa cut himself off. “Hold on. Other line.”

Hiroto waited for his best friend to answer whoever else was calling. This was an important matter, and he wasn’t going to be passive about it anymore. He and Midorikawa would come up with something.

***

The trip to Rika and Touko’s hotel wasn’t bad. They hadn’t been staying too far away, just a short bus ride. The six of them made their way quickly to the room, laughing amongst themselves.

The room itself was nice. After all, Touko was the Prime Minister’s daughter. It was spacious and well furnished without being over the top, including two chairs, two dressers, a tv, and a mini fridge. There were also two beds, one well-made as if the hotel staff had fitted the sheets, and the other messy like it was just slept in. 

“Nice place!” Otonashi complimented, launching herself onto the well-made bed. 

“So, what do we do?” Fuyuka asked. She’d never been to a sleepover before. 

“We could play a game,” Aki suggested. “Oh, I know! What about truth or dare?”

“Sounds good!” Rika agreed as she made her way over to the minifridge. “Touko, get the snacks. I got the drinks covered.” She opened the fridge door and pulled out two cases of...something. The sides read ‘wine cooler’. 

“Wait, don’t those have alcohol in them?” Aki asked nervously.

“How did you even get those?” Natsumi questioned. 

“Hey, calm down,” Rika grinned, “It’s not alcoholic. I got ‘em from my mom, she let me have a little bit before so it’s fine. It’s a wine COOLER, you’re supposed to put it in to keep the wine cold. Duh.”

“But it’s supposed to be tasty on its own,” Touko added as she retrieved the junk food from a dresser drawer. “We were saving it for a celebration, like when the boys win the world, but now is a good occasion too!”

“That sounds fun!” Otonashi was excited to try it. She’d never heard of ‘wine cooler’ before, but it sounded interesting. She tugged Aki forward, as the other girl still looked nervous. 

Rika and Touko passed around their goodies and the girls sat in a circle on the floor, prepared to start the most legendary girl’s night in the history of FFI.

***

Finding a good online recipe for a banana split on the world’s shittiest laptop was harder than it sounded. But Fudou and Tachimukai managed to compile a list of ingredients for tomorrow.

“Thank you so much, Fudou-san,” Tachimukai said, as if they weren’t doing something mandatory for the competition. He was about to leave when Fudou had the urge to stop him.

“Tachimukai,” he said shortly, and the underclassman turned around with a curious look on his face. “What...what do you do to get someone to stop being mad at you?”

“Um,” Tachimukai blinked, perplexed by the question.

“You’re a- you’re a nice person, and shit,” Fudou explained awkwardly, “You should know how to make people stop being mad.”

“Someone’s angry with you?” Tachimukai asked worriedly, brow creasing. He stepped further into the room again.

“No. Kind of. Look, he’s not talking to me but I can tell he’s mad and it’s really annoying.” Fudou said, and rolled his eyes. Of course he wasn’t worried about his friendship with Kidou, or anything. They weren’t friends. It would be a different story if Fudou liked Kidou, but he didn’t. At all. It was just weird to be stared at like that, that’s it. 

“It is hard when you feel like your friends are mad at you,” Tachimukai acknowledged. Ugh, he was being too nice. “Have you talked to him?”

“No, of course not,” Fudou snorted. “Why would I do that? He’d just yell at me.”

“Well, when I don’t know what to do for people, I just think about what I would want them to do for me,” Tachimukai told him, “and then I do that for them.”

“What I would want them to do for me…” Fudou pondered. He could figure out the rest by himself. “Okay, thanks. That’s all.”

Tachimukai smiled with an unexpected and genuine happiness, like Fudou had given him a compliment or something. “Of course, Fudou-san!” he said cheerily. “I’m going to go give this to the managers now. Good bye!” and he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Now, just what did Fudou want Kidou to do for him?

***

Midorikawa flipped to the other line. He hadn’t been expecting Hiroto’s call, let alone another one.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” the voice on the other line was familiar. It was good to hear from another one of his friends, but why were they all calling him at once? Did something actually happen, or was it a coincidence?

“Kazemaru,” Midorikawa greeted, “what’s up?”

“I have something to tell you,” Kazemaru said bluntly.

“Okay, hold on. I’m on the other line with Hiroto.” Midorikawa let him know. 

“Ugh,” Kazemaru groaned, and that gave Midorikawa a pause. Something had to be wrong.

“Hold on,” he said again.

“Okay, hurry up,” Kazemaru told him.

Midorikawa flipped back to Hiroto’s line.

“It’s Kazemaru,” he said to Hiroto, “he has something to tell me.”

“Do not talk to him,” Hiroto’s voice was commanding, reminiscent of Gran.

“Why?” Midorikawa asked. He was friends with both of them.

“You don’t want me to tell you.”

“You can tell me!” Midorikawa protested, “hold on.” 

He switched lines again.

“Oh my god, he’s being weird,” he said to Kazemaru.

“Who is?” 

Midorikawa paused.

“Who is this?” he asked.

“Hiroto.”

“Right, hold on.” He flipped to Kazemaru’s line, for real this time. “Oh my god, he’s being weird.”

“I know!” Kazemaru exclaimed. “Can you just end your conversation with him, though?”

Midorikawa switched lines to talk to Hiroto again.

“Okay, what is it?” 

“Kazemaru broke up with Endou and now he’s picking a fight with me,” Hiroto explained in a rush, as if Midorikawa was going to disappear again before he could finish. “Endou’s single right now. Kazemaru has no right to treat me like that, and I need help figuring out what to do.”

“He’s really doing that?” Midorikawa asked, dumbfounded. He knew that Endou and Kazemaru’s relationship could be messy, he’d listened to Kazemaru’s boy problems before, but this was unprecedented. 

“Yeah,” Hiroto confirmed. “Don’t take it up with him, though, I can resolve this.”

Midorikawa switched to Kazemaru’s line one last time.

“Listen, I gotta go,” he lied, “Nagumo set Suzuno’s bed on fire again and Saginuma said it's my turn to put it out."

“Boo, you suck,” Kazemaru replied sourly, seeing through the excuse. But he hung up. Midorikawa let out a soft sigh. This was stressful. 

***

As it turns out, wine coolers do contain alcohol. The girls were all tipsy by this point, but they were having fun, and that was what mattered. 

"Listen," Natsumi was telling Rika, "I know what's going on over there." She waved her hand lazily to indicate the situation. "But I'm not worried about it."

"Really?" Rika was doubtful. "I'd be pissed if someone was after  _ my  _ man."

Aki rolled her eyes. 

"No, you don't understand. Lemme tell you exactly how it'll go down." Natsumi cleared her throat and stood up to address the room.

"Kazemaru and Endou won't last," she proclaimed, "and that makes Hiroto think he's gonna win but he's  _ not _ because  _ I _ am. Endou and I are endgame. We'll be married by twenty four, and have our own jobs, and I'll cook us dinner every night cause I'll be Endou Natsumi, and he'll play professional until he gets injured and then come back to Raimon where we live and probably, coach the team. We might end up adopting one of the - the little soccer players." 

"Wow, Natsumi," Otonashi said after a short, stunned silence. "That's pretty specific."

"It'll happen," Natsumi said with absolute conviction, "just wait and see." 

"I want my future with darling to look like that, too!" Rika burst out.

"Does she ever stop talking about him?" Aki muttered, mostly to herself. But Touko had heard her, and sympathized.

"Nooo, never," Touko complained. Aki turned to her and they cut off from the rest of the room. Now the girls had become three groups: Natsumi and Rika exchanging marriage plots, Otonashi messily painting Fuyuka's nails as Fuyuka dozed off, and Aki and Touko now not so subtly complaining about their friends. Who were in the room with them.

"Its so unfair," Aki whined, "I hate how clingy she is to him."

"Me too," Touko admitted, "I didn't mind at first, but now I hate seeing them together. Because…" she trailed off. 

"Because you started liking Ichinose too," Aki concluded. 

"What?" Touko didn't seem to be following.

"I don't blame you," Aki continued, "he's really cute."

"I don't have a crush on Ichinose," Touko said. 

"What?" Aki was bewildered. "Then why are you upset about him and Rika?"

"Hmm." Touko didn't answer. They sat in disjointed silence.

Otonashi came wobbling over, beaming, nail polish in hand. Fuyuka had succumbed to unconsciousness and was snoring loudly on the floor. 

"Who wants to go next?" She asked cheerfully. 

Hours later, the girls would pass out, following Fuyuka's lead. It seemed that all of them had completely forgotten about the competition. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how 2000s Inazuma is


End file.
